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Islamabad, Oct 13 (IANS) A journalist who was kidnapped by suspected militants was set free in Pakistan's North Waziristan region. Rehmatullah Khan Derpakhel was abducted Aug 11 and freed after a deal was struck between the kidnappers and a jirga (council), Dawn quoted sources as saying. M. Amin Khan, an official, said Derpakhel reached his home at around 9 p.m. Journalists in Pakistan have been attacked on earlier occasions. Munir Ahmed Shahkir, a senior journalist with the Waqt News newspaper, was shot several times in Balochistan province and rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries Aug 14. On Aug 10, a journalist was manhandled for exposing malpractices at a premier hospital in Karachi. Journalist Saleem Shahzad, 40, was kidnapped in Islamabad May 29. Two days later, his body, bearing marks of severe torture, was found dumped in a canal in Punjab province. Shahzad is widely believed to have been picked up by intelligence officials for alleging in an article that terrorists attacked a key naval base in Karachi May 22 after the navy refused to free sailors held for suspected militant links. In June, a journalist working for Britain's Guardian newspaper was attacked by policemen apparently over his appearance in a TV talk show.
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